We can honor our rights and keep ourselves safe without sacrificing children. No other developed country in the world tolerates or inflicts harm to children to the extent that now exists in the U.S. (see the Children’s Defense Fund's State of America's Children 2017 Report). Tolerating harm to children is dehumanizing and a terrible stain on our collective conscience. The well-being of children is not a partisan issue. We may disagree how to best care for and protect children, but the question of whether we should protect children as a matter of principle is something we can agree on regardless of party or personal affiliations.

Given that, how do we restore and reverse this terrible state of affairs? The U.S. now ranks below nearly all developed countries on statistics related to child welfare, according to UNICEF. Our tax dollars fund these policies, thereby implicating everyone who contributes to the U.S. treasury. While elected leaders have failed to alleviate the anguish, there are things ordinary people, united for a cause, can accomplish. All who value integrity, courage, kindness and mercy feel an obligation to protect children from harm. It is time to act.

How?

First, refuse to accept the argument that we are too divided, too polarized, too apathetic to make change. Polarization and fear are not an inevitable state of affairs. We do not have to throw up our hands and turn away because the problems are too intractable. Inaction is not inevitable. We have agency.

Second, agree to put the interests of children above other interests. We can insist on policies that create a safe and loving environment for children as a principle we will work for and measure our success by.

Third, examine the underlying arguments that rationalize perpetuating terror among children and recognize they are based on fear, often cynically manipulated by politicians and corporations with large personal stakes in the issue. Recognize that the right to bear arms and the right to control immigration, for example, can be accomplished reasonably without sacrificing the lives and welfare of children to achieve. It’s a complete failure of responsible governance to generate so much fear that people believe they have no choice but to tolerate the intolerable.

We lose our humanity and imperil our future when we ignore political policies that kill and injure our young. People in good faith can find compromises that will achieve reasonable results. We must pull back from the brink before we find ourselves helpless to prevent even more authoritarian efforts by governmental actors.

If these proposals sound too far-fetched, know they will be unless we each decide to begin with small steps:

Educate yourself about one of these issues

Critically evaluate sources of information that generate fear and intolerance

Talk with people who have experience in helping others in these areas

Join a group that is already working on behalf of children

Write to politicians and let them know your views

Thank politicians who vote for policies that genuinely protect children

Withhold donations and purchases from those who perpetuate harm to children

Pray for and give to children in need

March, protest, stand in witness in places where children are being threatened, separated from parents, detained and silenced